Mr. Akeley’s Movie Camera Exhibition

Carl Akeley, the Field Museum’s first chief taxidermist invented the portable, easily maneuverable “pancake” camera used by Hollywood directors and the US Army. An exhibition features a pristine example of an original Akeley camera on its tripod, along with original 1928 video footage taken by Akeley cameras showing lion cubs, elephant families and herds of zebras. To showcase his artistry, Akeley’s bronze sculptures of elephants, a lion and a buffalo will be on display, as well as a mountain-dwelling sheep taxidermied by Akeley himself.